The Grand Rapids City Commission’s response to agitators during its public meetings has varied since 2022, despite the fact that disruptors appear to be following a near-identical playbook which revolves around violating meeting decorum rules.

The commission allows public comment from community members during its regular meetings, though speakers are limited to three minute periods and are asked to adhere to decorum rules. Those rules include refraining from swearing, holding signs, and cheering. 

The guidelines also ask that speakers not make derogatory remarks. Violators may be subject to dismissal from the meeting or arrest. 

Breaking decorum to force the commission into adjournment is not a new tactic. Despite this, the city’s response to intentional infringement of meeting rules has not remained consistent over time.

2022 – Patrick Lyoya

City Commission meetings became the epicenter of uproar against GRPD and city leadership in 2022, forcing at least three meetings to be prematurely adjourned. 

Concerns centered around the treatment of Patrick Lyoya, a black man, who was fatally shot by a Grand Rapids Police Department officer in April 2022 in an incident that sparked national outcry. The officer who shot Lyoya was later charged with second-degree murder, though his case resulted in a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a verdict.

In the months to follow, community members turned out en masse to City Commission meetings during which attendees engaged in boos, shouting, and chanting.

The disruptions forced then-Mayor Rosalynn Bliss to enforce stricter rules around public comment. She applied a hard stop when speakers reached their allotted three minute limit and cut the microphone any time a speaker used explicit language.

One such interaction in May 2022 sparked backlash from the audience before Bliss called to adjourn that meeting.

“Every single one of you on this board have proven time and time again that it’s property over people for you,” one speaker said during that meeting, according to Channel 3. “These buildings mean more to you than any black person being murdered by the police. This can all go down! F*** your property!”

“Okay, enough,” Bliss replied. “I made it very clear that I would shut the microphone off the moment you started using curse words.”

After more swearing, Bliss again addressed the audience to refrain from vulgar language. Bliss then recessed to regain control of the room, before adjourning the meeting altogether.

“I have told you, when you start to curse and use derogatory comments, I don’t have to amplify that,” Bliss said. 

Unrest over Lyoya’s death persisted through July when one City Commission meeting resulted in three arrests. That meeting was adjourned when Bliss could not bring the room to order.

Then First Ward Commissioner Jon O’Connor abruptly left the meeting early and reportedly gave a remark which included profanity.

It was the fourth City Commission meeting shut down by activists since Lyoya’s death.

2025 – Sanctuary City

Another such incident of organized meeting disruption came in 2025 when two GR Rapid Response to ICE members theatrically pulled a woman away from the mic during her remarks as she was appealing for Grand Rapids to approve sanctuary city policies.

The two escorted her away from the podium, leading the audience to begin repeating “cops and ICE go hand in hand.”

Mayor David LaGrand asked the agitators to come to order before asking security to dismiss them from the room. While a recording of that meeting does not show what happened next, the room appears far emptier when the video resumes.

2026 – Anti-ICE

Mayor David LaGrand in September was forced to adjourn a City Commission meeting when a public comment session turned unruly after agitators broke decorum by chanting slogans against Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the city. 

City Manager Mark Washington directed Police Chief Joe Trigg to quell the agitators at that meeting, though LaGrand adjourned before arrests could be made. Members of the commission later openly condemned the agitators, saying their actions infringed on the First Amendment rights of those in attendance.

“What I witnessed across the board was an incredible lack of respect for the First Amendment and the democratic privilege that provides public comment under the open meetings act,” Commissioner AliciaMarie Belchak said of the disruption at an October meeting.

Jeff Smith, a local activist behind the website Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID), had foreshadowed that disruption by members of both Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE ahead of the meeting and vowed that LaGrand would receive an “earful” from those in attendance. 

Despite his warning, the meeting still ended in premature adjournment.

Anti-ICE agitators also shut down an April meeting while chanting to demand the passage of six sanctuary city policies.

LaGrand did not respond to that disruption by asking security to clear the room, instead saying “I advise you to stop.” He then asked the commission for approval to adjourn the meeting.

LaGrand has responded to repeated disruptions by tightening meeting decorum, though he continues to allow explicit language. He argued such a provision is protected by the First Amendment.

“The final instructions there are hopes,” LaGrand said while introducing the stricter rules at an October meeting. “They are not mandates because of the First Amendment.”

Write to jackson@grherald.com